You're at the Top of My Lungs
by Ebelmann
Summary: "I couldn't have counted the minutes, hours, or even years between me and him at this very moment, it would take a lifetime and I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment." / Fluff / Nezumi and Sion's reunion from Nezumi's point of view. Nezumi continues his Non-chalant Facade, and Shion tries to imitate it in his weakest moment of emotional tremors. Horrible summary!


**A/N: Just a drabble about things from Nezumi's point of view. Their reunion after a long and excruciating 6 years. Nezumi continues his non-chalant Façade, and Shion tries to duplicate it on his own but fails miserably.**

**I **_**might**_** make it a two shot later if this gets enough reviews and favorites.**

The winter air was cold, especially along my newly exposed neckline. The smoke I breathed contently rose into the chill of the air with little swirls and inconsistent lines of wasted nicotine. It was a bad habit, but damn, it felt good.

My gloved hands slowly made their way into the thin lining of this leather jacket, the one I always wore, the one I have yet to give up. Though every other part of me seemed to be deemed gone or missing, the three things I would like to keep consistent are my jacket, my scarf, and that _charming red snake_. Though I may be lying to myself, I feel as though I came back just for his sake. Just to see those crimson eyes stare at me with the same curiosity and naivety as a child who held the world in the palm of his hands. And that he did…_did._

I feel I owe him. I took that little piece of wonderful that was held in the palm of his hand, that silvery circle of possibilities that glowed with such intensity…

I took away the only life he ever known.

This thought constantly ate away at me. With every bite that thought took out of my conscience, I got closer to my return to No.6 though I promised myself I wouldn't. I tried, with all my might, to get as far away as possible from that _damned_ city. But now, after my departure, I believe it's no longer a city. No longer a society that fed off its promise of safety and comfort, and underlining of lies and hatred, but a society that earnestly promised to rebuild and reconstruct every mistaken moral and broken promise given to these heartbroken citizens.

_It was all his idea, too. He's building it up…_

A committee that began to reconstruct the new Holy City; a committee of 14, and led by one… _Sion._

_And here I am, tearing it down…_

Another puff of smoke released from my lungs, my arm bending at the elbow to disperse the stick from my chilled lips. With a sudden shudder of nervousness, my hands begged to be kept busy. One hand held the cigarette between index and thumb, and the other rose to massage the newly-exposed skin on the back of my neck. A haircut was required to reenter my old life; for the simpleness that I _wasn't_ entering my old life, but starting over. No longer was I _Eve_, no longer was I an advocate to a resistance that never exposed itself. No longer was I the lonely Nezumi who wandered from Holy City- to Holy City, searching for what I knew could only be found in the 6th—last and final.

"You shouldn't smoke," A familiar voice stated sternly.

Even though that voice sent even more chills down my spine, I didn't look up. My left hand continued to massage the small stretch of exposed skin behind me, and my eyes continued to stare at the well-manicured cobblestone flooring that seemed as though it stretched for miles. On that cobblestone flooring, what seemed miles away, a pair of black leather shoes came into sight. Though they were so close to my own, they seemed so far away, unapproachable, as if it wasn't worth any effort to chase after… _so far away._

"It's bad for you," He spoke again, that small teenage voice that he used to know was now a loud, stern and fatherly form of deep that was only occupied by a man elder than 21.

It's been years since we've seen each other and if I were to look up just this once I could die happily. Though I put on the non-chalant façade I always did, this man's voice almost shook with uncertainty.

"Do you even hear me right now?"

I hesitated, feeling the slight warmth of his breath as it attempted to reach my skin from minor feet away. _If I could just raise my head…_

"You should speak up a little bit," I almost chuckled as that little piece of fiery assurance fell to the ground, ember slowly fading.

No other words were spoken, but from what I could see, those navy-blue slack covered legs began to tremble. Uncertainty began to stale the air with its stench, from the both us, we were unsure of what would happen next. Each scenario I played in my head between now and those six years behind us were not like this at all. Each reunion was dramatic and unsheathed with emotion. This was…

_I looked up._

His hair was shorter, cropped short and business-like. Though, behind that suit and tie persona were those same blood red eyes and charming red snake I adore. In the cold, his cheeks looked flush and pale, that little scar gracing his neck and cheek seemingly redder than those years before. Those eyes still stared with the same curiosity but were now adjoined with disbelief and fear. His lips pursed to a thin line, but still looked shocked and unable to cope. Everything about Sion was so readable, so…

"Hello," I simply stated a greeting, unsure of what else to say. One trembling leg, one that didn't belong to me, slowly raised and took a step forward, an outstretched hand begged for a touch, and rounded red eyes teared up.

A small, subconscious smile absorbed my lips, plainly and expectantly watching as Sion desperately reached forward in attempt to touch what he thought wasn't real. Though the way he faked that insensible frontage was enough to make me applaud, it was also the way he immediately dropped it as soon as those red eyes met silver orbs. This man was everything to me; he was even attractive when he pretended to be cool, even after knowing he isn't.

Those trembling hands finally reached me, gripping tightly around the wrists of both my appendages; cold fingers reaching for warm skin that barely shown from underneath the sleeves of leather I occupied. My eyes traveled slowly from those thin, pale, desperate fingers up the tan-coat-covered arms and passed the shaking shoulders to the sobbing face of the boy I missed. He wasn't a boy, though, he was now a man. A man of 21, a man who worked for a living and raised a child and…

Before I knew it, I could feel the softness of those warm tussles of white hair from underneath the dark leather of my glove-clad hands. One arm caressing his lower back, and the other caringly embracing the head that held so many secrets. It was selfish, really, the way I held him. I devoured the helplessness of this man; the way his fists clung desperately to my lowly-exposed shirt as his tears stained my shoulder and his body shook with uncontrollable sobs and pants of childish tears. I loved it, the dependency and loving display of affection and disappointment and despair with a hint of denial all wrapped into one caring embrace. All these emotions were spilling over from the character between my arms; all these indescribable emotions that took place and dripped from his corneas. But I could only experience one… _Happiness._

"Sion," I simply addressed; his shoulders jerked automatically and the sobs came to a sudden halt. I could feel the tension in his back as it hesitantly arched back to raise his head. _Oh, how I wish that back was arching just a little faster under my grip…_

All his attention was finally pinned on me. Those tear-coated crimson eyes seemed to glow under the dim moonlight and low yellow porch light that hung over head. A few more tears streamed down those flushed white cheeks, hanging loosely on the edge of his jawline. My thumbs quickly took care of those, wiping them away almost directly before gripping that rounded face I came to memorize in those short months we spent together, and those long and despairing six years I spent imagining it. Those eyes bored into mine, digging deeply into my very being; one stray thumb quickly brushed over that rounded pink scar under his left eye, followed by the sudden halt of all tears.

Another sweet smile embraced my lips, curling upward in a foreign sensation as Sion repeated it. That smile of his though was so goddamn sweet it gave me a cavity; enough to let my cheeks burn in full bloody rage. I'm glad that smile was delivered though, because I'm probably the happiest now than I ever have been.

Sion's hands slowly dropped from my shirt, the moments counting almost to infinity as they gripped my wrists one more time, but without the intensity, almost _delicately. _I couldn't have counted the minutes, hours, or even years between me and him at this very moment, it would take a lifetime and I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment. What I _was_ ready for though, was something I knew was about to happen. And even though I could predict its very existence, I couldn't predict its outcome or timing.

But I knew shortly after Sion began leaning in.

There was no time between then and now. It seemed as though every minute that had been between us since our last kiss had suddenly dissolved into the saliva that hung on our own tongues. And then our lips met.

Those soft lips I knew only as acquaintances now became my friends as they moved in unison to mine. It wasn't wet, nor was it hot and bothered, but passionate and filled with days missed that were worth catching up on. A lot has been missed between these missing six years, and I plan to get to know everything. Every missed birthday, anniversary, family holiday and absent photo. Nothing will be missed, nor absent on my part ever again.

Every night will be spent in bed, cold feet and warm sheets. Every morning will be greeted with a smile, and a kiss. Every day spent with Sion.

"Nezumi," My name was called. The kiss had broken without consent on part, those pale pink lips swollen and begging for more. I bit back the urge and looked up willingly and stared helplessly into those crimson eyes that I admired with every fiber of my being.

"I waited for you, Nezumi, I just…" A smile graced those swollen lips, but tears continued to fall. My fingers caught each tear before it touched his jawline, quick to respond even without words. "I … _love you, Nezumi_."

I knew exactly how to respond, and though he's said this to me a thousand times before, and though I always flippantly replied, I knew now how I earnestly felt… _If only I knew sooner._

"I love you too, Sion."

Another kiss, this one happier, joyous and tasted less of denial and disappointment.

We were honestly both the happiest we have ever been. I knew it was Sion's happiest moment, because I was experiencing the same feeling as I held his warmth in mine. I was happy to be back, though in the city I once despised and chose to deny with all my might.

This boy was worth the sacrifice.


End file.
